Love in a lonely place
by novaprime2
Summary: This story is about the romance between two unlikely inklings. both with tragic pasts. both with their own personal fears, and one enemy that will stop at nothing to end their relationship, or even their lives!
1. Starving start

**THIS IS MY FIRST STORY SO DON'T BE A DOUCHE ABOUT IT.**

 **BE HONEST AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK.**

 **Amber woke to the morning breeze on her toes, she was confused at first then remembered, It was only yesterday that she had turned 14 so she was still getting used to her new "self". She looked over at her alarm clock and saw that it was only 7:00. she sat up and rubbed the last bit of sleep out of her eyes and got up to start her day. first she put on her white anchor tee with the generic black shorts and put on her favorite hat, her sporty bobble cap. It was the one that her mother gave her the last time she saw her.**

 **She shook the thought out of her mind and went on to slip on her cherry kicks, she didn't like them too much (not a big fan of pink) but it was all she could afford as of right now. after a few more preparations (brushing her teeth etc.) she swung open the door and ran down the hall. after passing a few corners she glanced behind her and slammed into someone else knocking them both to the floor. "oh my god are you ok?" she asked. instead of answering the boy groaned and sat up and glanced at her. She noticed he had a scar on his left eye. The man just huffed, pushed her aside, stood up and stormed off. "weird, I tried to apologise" she stood up and kept on going, this time being more careful not to slam into anyone else.**

 **when she finally got to the cafe, (which seemed to take forever allowing her to realize she was famished!) she noticed it was almost completely empty. she went to the counter and asked where everyone was. The lady at front answered, "your my 2nd customer this morning. most inklings don't wake up this early or if they do its because they are practicing turf wars." Amber wasn't surprised at all. she heard this was supposedly, "turf war central" as some called it, plus she was always an early squid. "i'll have an order of kelp juice (she hated coffee.) and a slice of octo-pie. The lady went to the back and started getting her food and drink. while she was waiting Amber finally got to soak up the environment, the counter was white marble which went well with the black wooden stools and booths. It was still kinda dark outside which she enjoyed, she never was into the whole sunshine and rainbows thing. (no she is not an emo just not girly, as much as she probably should be.) the floor is a nice white, black checker pattern. (reminded her of her grandparents old diner.) she was snapped back to reality by the lady putting her stuff on the counter. "first time here is on the house, after this though it will cost ya," she nodded and started eating. (i'm not gonna describe it cause i have no f'ing clue what octo-pie tastes like)**


	2. Gun store encounter

_**THANKS FOR THE PATIENCE AND FROM NOW ON I PROMISE TO UPLOAD AT LEAST 1-2 CHAPTERS PER WEEK. ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY AREN'T GOING TO BE THAT LONG (I DO HAVE A LIFE, KINDA) HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY, SEE YOU NEXT WEEK**_

After finishing her delicious octo-pie and slurping down the last of her kelp juice Amber headed out. "come back soon!" the lady called out after her. When she got to the sidewalk she noticed how booming the city plaza was. unlike earlier the streets were packed with inklings of all colours sizes and gear. Amber was startled from the sudden silence as everyone looked up at the giant T.V hanging on the wall of one of the buildings. all of the sudden two inklings appeared on the T.V "IT'S INKOPOLIS NEWS TIME!" the black and pink inkling said, "do you always have to yell?" the green one asked, "OF COURSE, IT'S WHY OUR FANS LOVE ME!" the green one sighed and just continued with the news.  
"the current maps are arowana mall and blackbelly skate park." Amber sighed and walked away from the T.V, "aww man I wanted to do some clothes shopping." she mentally noted to go when the maps changed. for now she wanted to have a look at the plaza, she didn't get a good one last night. (it was dark after all) so she hopped on a railing in the shade so she could look around, The grass wasn't as green as she was hoping. "just like back at home, it didn't rain a lot." she took another mental note to stop thinking out loud. she then looked at the sky, clear as could be, yet still retained its blue beauty in a way. she started zoning out when she heard a smash. she saw it came from the gun store so she decided to look inside. but when she got to the front door she was thrown to the floor by someone running out of the store. "AND DON'T COME BACK!" she heard someone scream.  
"does anybody look where they are going in this place!?" she thought. then got up and went into the store only to see a skinny tall man picking up weapons from the ground. "do you need any help?" she asked, "why yes if you would be so kind." he seemed cheerful,upset but cheerful. when they were done picking up weapons she handed them to him and he put them back where they belonged. "thank you, that little inker is always causing trouble." "my names Amber what's yours?" she asked. the tall man answered, "my name is Sheldon, the owner and manager of this proud establishment. he stuck out his hand and she shook it. then the said, "i'm sorry about that, Ikari is nothing but a troublemaker, tried to steal one of my prized new weapons!" Amber recognized the boy from the apartment complex. "i've seen him before, I ran into him in my apartment building, he's really rude." sheldon changed the subject, "wanna see my new weapon?" hell yea lets see it!" she said. "THIS….IS….A….BUCKET!" he thrust the weapon proudly into the air and she giggled at the dramatisation of the thing. "that's it….why would anyone steal a bucket.?" by this point she was rolling on the floor laughing. and sheldon was getting mad. "can you leave!? come back another time i'm not in the mood to deal with this." with that she got up apologized and left.  
"what a strange man." she thought. she checked she squidphone to see the time and noticed it was 8:27. "still time to grab my weapon from home and get in some turf wars before lunch." she walked back so she could absorb more of her environment. she saw a fat cat lying on a pedestal and decided to stay away for now in fear he might be mean. that's when she noticed a inkling with white hair walk past and go into Ammo Knights. "weird, i didn't know there were even white haired inklings." she decided if she saw him she would talk to him. he seemed to be new just like her. |

 _ **HOLY HELL MY SHOULDER HURTS! in case you haven't noticed the white inkling is a reference to another fanfiction that I loved to read. I want to say thanks again to anyone who even reads this and thanks again**_ _ **Etriuswimbleton for the amazing tips. and i'm sorry if this seems rushed, I wrote a whole other chapter but decided to cut it cause it made almost no sense. and finally the boy with the scar is the same boy who tried to steal the bucket. in case you haven't noticed his name means hatred in japanese. see you guys in the next chapter!**_


	3. First match mayhem

_**THANK YOU GUYS ALL SOOO MUCH FOR THE CONTINUED SUPPORT.**_

 _ **I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY THIS CHAPTER (CAUSE I DID A LOT, THIS IS FUN TO DO!)**_

 _ **SEE YOU GUYS/GALS NEXT WEEK!**_

Amber rounded the corner on to her buildings street, but when she glanced down an alleyway she saw him again. Ikari was talking to some man with spiky long hair. she was intrigued when the tall man took out a sack and gave it to Ikari, in exchange Ikari gave him a lot of coins. Amber was sure this was some kind of illegal deal and decided to stay out of it. when she got back and grabbed her ink brush she noticed that it was kind of worn down. "maybe I should update my armory sometime soon." she decided to buy a new brush when she could afford it. and with that she began her walk back to the tower. when she stepped outside she felt a strong breeze that blew her hat off. when she reached down to pick it up she noticed Ikari staring at her, (by this point she was irritated and walked up to him. "don't you know how to say sorry!?" he then looked puzzled and answered, "me? you're the one who knocked into ME so ink off." by this point she was fuming but retained enough self control to not punch him in the ink sack and stormed off. when she got to the tower in was about 12:10 still enough time for a game or two. when she walked over and saw her team she was worried. "what if i'm not good enough, what if my team hates me." she started to panic when one of her teammates in a gasmask,zekko hoodie, and zombie hi-horses walked up and said, "Hi my name is Dexter, nice to meet you." she calmed down a bit and responded, "Hey, i'm Amber" he then waved over to the other 2 kids waiting for the match to start. the one in the paintball mask is Julie, the one with the sniper and 6 on his back is Kori. He is cool just don't get in his way, he will protect you if he can which means you should do the same. Kori looked up and waved. Amber was interested in his 6 on his back. "what's with the 6?" "i'm not too sure, we just met up last game."Dexter responded. she shrugged it off thinking it was his group or something. then she noticed the respawn pad charged up fully. "time to go!" she said and jumped on. In the blink of an eye she was teleported to the battlefield. it was arowana mall. Kori jumped up and cheered. "whoo! best map eva!" Julie was not entertained at all, "shut up and focus on the game." Kori seemed offended but was quiet until Judd blew the whistle to start the match. "3...2..1...GO!" with that Amber jumped to life, running to the middle and splashing the ground into her favorite color, purple. half way though covering the center a girl with a slosher came in and started spreading yellow everywhere. she was about to get the girl when Kori shot her and screamed, "FIRST KILL SUCKAS!" Amber just giggled and kept going, when she started pushing up front someone got her with a roller. she cussed under her breath but kept going. when she got to the same spot she was splattered again. this time she jumped to Dexter to try to see this guy. when she got there dexter was about to be splatted by the slosher girl but Amber saved him. "thanks, I hate sloshers." "don't mention it, let's keep going." after that she heard Julie scream, "STUPID ROLLERS!" Amber was concerned now because she hadn't seen this person yet he's managed to get everyone at least once. "maybe he's a legend player she used to hear about." she thought. "TEN SECONDS LEFT!" she was startled but got to work pushing the line almost all the to the enemy base. but in the end the enemy won by 4% Kori and Dexter seemed ok and congratulated the enemy players, but julie was pissed. she threw her splatling on the ground and stormed out.

Amber just left after talking to dexter a little bit. (they planned to play again soon.) she went and sat on a bench to think of why she lost. when she came to the conclusion it was just the roller that was the problem she sighed. she was the best from her hometown but this was way more advanced. she washed the defeat out of her mind by looking at the T.V which was currently playing another match. she noticed the white haired boy (except he wasn't white currently.) dual wielding splattershots. After seeing this Ambers jaw dropped, "how is he doing that, is it even legal in the game?" she also noticed two other girls staring intently at the match. they seemed weird, one looked like she was gonna burst, the other couldn't stop blushing. After seeing the boy win against 4 dudes with only 1 teammate (who she recognised as Kori) she was tapped on the shoulder. when she turned around she immediately turned pale and cowered away a little. she tried to speak but nothing would come out. instead the girl said, "It's been a long time hasn't it?"

 _ **DUH DUH DUUUUH! A CLIFFHANGER. I'M SORRY I HATE CLIFFHANGERS BUT CMON YOU'LL UNDERSTAND IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. I'M SORRY I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF AND MADE TONS OF REFERENCES TO ANOTHER STORY. BUT IT IS NOT A CROSSOVER JUST IN THE SAME WORLD. AND I'M ASSUMING THEY ARE NOT MAKING ANOTHER CHAPTER. SORRY ONCE AGAIN (GOD I'M SORRY A LOT) FOR NOT MUCH DETAIL (JUST WAIT TILL YOU SEE NEXT WEEK'S CHAPTERS, DETAIL!) , I'M NOT USED TO MAKING BATTLE SCENES BUT IN MY DEFENCE I WASN'T TOTALLY PLANNING TO. THANKS AGAIN AND SEE YA NEXT WEEK!**_


	4. Crazy old friend

_**I FINALLY STOPPED PUSHING THIS OFF. LOTTA CRAP GOING ON IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW. BUT THAT WON'T STOP ME FROM MAKING THIS STORY. SORRY AGAIN ABOUT THE CLIFFHANGER, I JUST WANTED TO SEE THE REACTIONS. SEE YOU IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!**_

Amber was in shock for at least 5 minutes. the pink haired girl didn't say anything, just stood there, smirking. when Amber came back to reality she got up and was about to run but the girl stopped her. "what's wrong? didn't wanna see you're old friend, Amanda?" Amber froze at the name. Amanda and her family lived in the slums of her old town. one night her and her parents were fighting pretty badly. the next night the parents died in their sleep due to. "natural causes"

everyone knew she did it, but no one could prove it since she disappeared two weeks later. "this is where you've been the whole time?" Amber asked, still to scarred to move. completely ignoring her question she said, "i'm disappointed about your last game Amber. you used to be the best." Amber was scared out of her mind. not only is a psychopath talking to her, she's a very easily angered psycho who has no remorse for any other inkling, being. Amber gathered the courage to say, "why did you run away?" she laughed and answered, "don't be dumb amby-poo!, you know exactly why!" she pushed Amber and she fell onto the bench. "why did you have to kill them?" Amanda looked offended and answered "why not! they were taking the world's oxygen anyways. had no purpose to live." Amanda's eyes looked like nothing. they had no life in them. Amanda then saw the white haired inkling. while she was staring Amber slipped away and bolted back to her apartment, locking the door immediately. "WHY THE FUCK IS SHE HERE?" Amber didn't want to go outside for the rest of the day, fearing that Amanda would see her.

While she was changing she heard a knock at the door. she looked through the hole and saw it was Dexter. she opened the door, "Hi dexter how did you find where I live?" "sorry, I just saw you run in on my way out and asked the desk lady were you where staying, didn't mean to intrude." He was clearly blushing from her lack of clothing. she noticed had forgotten she was only in a bra and pajama pants. "oops, sorry I was about to go to bed." dexter looked upset, "oh ok, i'll talk to you tomorrow then, wanna meet up at the old cafe?" "Sure i'd love to! see you tomorrow." with that she closed the door. she laughed at his apparent ignorance. "wow he must not have ever had any kind of romantic experience. (neither did she but she wasn't dumb.) "Well I guess I got plans for tomorrow now." with that she rolled over and before she could got to sleep she realized she needed to do some furniture shopping. no more box chairs. her walls in the whole house are white, the stove and counters are black marble. and the floor in her room was cream carpet and the rest of the house was stained dark oak wood flooring. "and some unpacking, time to hang some old photos! (she loves images, mostly just plain landscapes.)" and now she passed out.

 _ **I'M SO SORRY THAT I FORGOT TO DESCRIBE AMBER: SHE IS A NATURALLY DEEP GREEN INKLING AND DEXTER IS NATURALLY NEON PURPLE. DEXTER IS NOT HER CONFIRMED LOVE INTEREST SO DON'T FREAK OUT IF YOU HATE HIM. AMBER IS 15 AND KINDA SHORT. DEXTER IS 15 AS WELL BUT HE'S TALLER THAN AVERAGE SO HE TOWERS OVER AMBER. THANK YOU ALL SOO MUCH FOR THE CONTINUED SUPPORT, I'M SURPRISED ANYONE LIKES THIS STORY. IF THERE IS ANYTHING I FORGOT LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS. BYE!**_


	5. indecent incident

_**O.K first of all I am terribly sorry I was gone for pretty much the whole week, i've never been busier in my life! essays and all that are now coming up and it SUCKS! the other thing I gotta say is i'm sorry for the lack of length of the last chapter, I was writing it at 3:00 A.M and got lazy. so to make up for it i'm doing a extra long chapter plus a 3rd tomorrow night as always etriuswimlbeton helped me out a TON and he's got a nice story of his own. (I don't want to seem like an ad but his story is actually amazing.)**_

Amber woke up and instantly felt horrible. she was woozy and her back ached, throughout the entire night she couldn't sleep, knowing Amanda was most likely to stalk her she decided to go clothes shopping after lunch, that way Amanda might not recognise her in new "fresh" gear. she glanced at her clock, "5:30?! son of a fish It's early!" she groaned and got out of bed. first she changed out of her pajamas and put on the basic shorts and a sunny day tee. she then put on her cherry kicks once again. then she brushed her teeth, grabbed her weapon and headed out. since she didn't have to meet dexter for another hour or so she first wanted to head to the tower and put her weapon into stock. it's the new thing people have been doing so that they don't have to carry it around everywhere. instead you store it in your personal locker and then when you need to fight it's there. when she got to the head of the tower she saw Dexter talking to Ikari. she made a mental note to ask him about it at breakfast. but for now, she was busy. when she walked through the glass doors she walked along the path labeled "stockade". when she got there a woman at a desk with white hair said, "name?" she answered "A-amber" then the woman typed something into the computer and said "fill out this form please." and handed Amber a yellow form, along with a pencil. Amber then scrambled to a seat on the chairs scattered around the tiny, grey office. she found a really comfortable green chair, when she sat down she immediately felt tired. she hastily finished the form but before she got up she wanted to envelop herself in the chair. she closed her eyes and felt magical,then everything went black. when she woke up the sun was setting. she squealed and looked at her phone. 6:18 P.M "oh no! I slept past my meeting with Dexter." she thought. on her way out she gave the lady her ink brush and her form. as she bolted through the streets she noticed people looking at her,whispering something to their friends, and laughing. Amber felt horrible. when she got back to the apartment she was wheezing. she just ran 6 blocks in a couple of minutes. she asked where the room was and the woman said, "097 ground floor." she nodded and went to his room and rang the doorbell. he answered very quickly and said, "Amber,hey….why weren't you at the cafe I was waiting for 3 hours?" Amber couldn't meet his eye and said, "I'm so sorry Dexter, I fell asleep at the stock drop off. when I woke up I ran here." Dexter nodded and said, "it's fine,do you want to come in?" Amber could see he was still irritated and expected him to be even madder than he was. "sure, maybe now we can talk?" Dexter seemed to be in no mood to talk but accepted anyways. when they went into the house Amber was blown away, the house was amazing. cream colored walls, black stained wood coupperds brown leather couch. huge flat-screen plasma T.V. they went and sat on the couch. Amber immediately started to apologise. Dexter stopped her and said, "please stop apologising, what's happened happened." he seemed to be much happier. they talked about anything they could think of. when the inevitable question came up "so do you have any family?" Dexter turned pale and said, "please don't, please." over and over again. then he passed out. when he woke up he found himself on his bed. he blushed when he saw amber leaned over cleaning his room, coincedently her butt was pointed in his direction. his nose started to bleed but he quickly wiped it away. "you don't have to clean my room." she looked shocked and was blushing. now realizing that her butt had been pointed straight at his spastic, purple eyes. "it's the least i can do since I left you at the cafe." he got up and realized his shirt was gone. "I had to check and see if you hurt anything after collapsing on the floor like that." she explained. he did infact have a bruise on his shoulder. "thank you for helping me. just promise to never bring up those….individuals again." "I promise, as long as you stop staring at my butt." she teased, his face turned completely red. he buried his face in his covers and she laughed. "so you admit to staring?" he immediately said, "I….Y...YOU DON'T HAVE PROOF!" Amber was now crying with laughter. he got up and put on a white anchor tee with a zekko hoodie over it. then he said. "whatever, do you want something to eat?" she perked up and said, "oh, so you know how to cook now?" he just shrugged and said, "perks of living by yourself." she then said, "nah i'm good, I went home and ate while you were sleeping" "more food for me." he said. she got up off the floor and said, "well, i'm gonna go. once again sorry for the cafe incident. i'll text you later maybe next time I won't fall asleep."she joked. but as Amber was walking down the hall she was tapped on the shoulder, when she turned around she saw it was Dexter. he gave her a small quick hug and bolted away before she could say anything. she froze for a second from shock. then she walked back to her apartment smiling the entire way back.

 _ **someone said I shouldn't be so loud with my announcements**_ _ **but i'm not sure WHAT HE MEANS! lol i'm gonna try and get more characters involved in this story soon. i'm also gonna make a quick bio chapter for dex and Amber. thank you all sooo much for not hating me too much for the last chapter. I know it was bad. SEE YOU GUYS IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!**_


	6. Bio

Name: Amber

Age:14

Sex:Female

hair color: orange (thus the name!)

eye color: blue

Bio: Amber and her family grew up in a small town on the border of octo-valley. she was the only daughter and has very vague memories of her younger childhood. her mother was the only one taking care of her. her father ran away when she was 2.

when she was 12 only a couple days before she turned 13 she was playing in her room when she heard her mother scream. when she peeked out of her room her mother was lying on the floor, she was covered in purple ink. she had been shot by an octotrooper. she ran to her mother sobbing, her mom's last words were "run away, go to inkopolis, I love you….." her mother died before her eyes. she just sat there and sobbed for a while before bringing herself to leave her mother and everyone else who lived in the town. she ran away using the sewer system she used to play in with her friends to avoid the other octolings. but it didn't block the others screams. when she got out of the city she went to live in a homeless shelter until she was 14 then she went to inkopolis to try to live a normal life.

Amber is a realist. she tries to see every perspective on life. she isn't depressing, but she heavily repressed the memories of her family and her hometown. she sees most people in inkopolis as uptight assholes. but some people like Dexter, she likes. she can relate to them and she doesn't have to bury her feelings when talking to them. she holds a permanent grudge against the octolings for her mother's death.

Name:Dexter

Age:14

hair color:purple

eye color:purple

Sex:Male

Bio: Dexter's childhood is one you would never want to have.

his parents were abusive to the point of him almost dying. when he was 12 his parents were sentenced to life in prison when he was found on the side of the road bleeding out and bruised.

after that he was sent to an orphanage which he ran away from 2 days after getting there.

since then he was living with a man he found named spyke. the man offered to take him under his wing and teach him all he knew about the art of "business" eventually spyke took him to inkopolis when he was 14 and that is where he is currently staying, he knows nobody but Amber and Kori. he met Amber in a game of turf war and now has a small crush on her. he met Kori when he was travelling with spyke.

ever since kori has been his best friend and they always do turf wars together. Dexter doesn't know how to cope with his lack of proper parents growing up. so when people mention them he kinda shuts down. he tries to stay positive all the time but he hates losing more than anything. if there is anything that spyke has told him it's that he should never lose if he can stop it. 


	7. Steamy showdown

_**I've been having a lack of activities for good reasons which you probably don't care about anyways so i'm just gonna say here's chapter 6. (my computer broke, I just today stopped throwing up and i've been stumped on ideas for the story.)**_

Amber woke up to the sound of the door bell being rung. she rose up groggily and saw that it was 7:03 an o.k time to wake up. (it has been 2 weeks since the last chapter. in that time Dex and amber have been hanging out almost everyday to play turf wars or go shopping.) Amber got up and ran to the door. she looked through the hole at the top of the door and saw that it was Dexter, she opened the door and greeted him. "hey dexter, why are you here so early?" he responded, "didn't you hear? the new splatfest was announced today! it's burgers vs. pizza, who wouldn't chose burgers! which one are you gonna pick?"  
Amber already knew but didn't want to tell him yet. "you'll see when we get there, come on in and wait in the living room while I get dressed."  
he entered the house and was amazed. in 2 weeks she turned the house from box utopia into a fully furnished apartment. suddenly Dexter's phone went off, Amber walked into her bedroom and shut the door and Dexter answered the phone. little did he know Amber let her curiosity get the best of her and she listened to him talk on the phone. "hello? hey….how's the business been going?...oh no….i'll be over as fast as I can."  
Amber stopped listening and went to change her clothes. today she put on her generic black shorts, a fugu tee and her squid hairclip. she also put on her white arrows. (shoes for those of you that don't know.) when she left her room dexter was waiting outside her door. "Hey, I gotta go do something, i'll meet you at the voting stand." she nodded and said goodbye before he left. she got something to eat and then left to go vote for a team.

when she got to the voting stand she noticed two big buttons on the stand, she pushed the one with a burger on it and was given a burger shirt. she sighed at how big the shirt was, it didn't fit her so she decided to not wear it. she felt someone tap her shoulder and expected to see Dexter but saw no one. she turned back around but was then pushed forward into a garbage can nocking her and the can to the ground. a bunch of squids laughed and pointed at her. one of them said, "hey kid! watch where you're going!" another said, "Drew, you should talk to the trash like that! it doesn't deserve attention." that set Amber off she got up and punched one of the kids in the nose. the others were surprised as the ones nose started to bleed. "so, you wanna play like that huh kid, the blue haired inkling looked at his friends and they grabbed Amber's arms and pinned them behind her back. then the blue boy punched her in the gut, then stomped on her foot. which was extra painful since he was wearing red work boots.

when he was about to punch her again but Sheldon stepped in, "you kids better get lost,or I'll call the cops!" as soon as he mentioned cops the kids started running. Amber got up slowly and walked over to sheldon. "thanks sheldon, but I could have handled it." he just rolled his eyes, "suuuure...well just don't cause anymore trouble cause who knows what those kids will do." Amber was upset, "BUT THEY STARTED IT!" he answered, "i know, just ignore them." she thanked him once again and left to go home and bandage her foot.

she was sure it was broken. She saw Dexter step out from an alleyway, as soon as he saw her he ran over and said, "What happened? are you ok?"

she said, "i'll be fine, just need to get home and bandage my foot." she tried to move again and fell over. "here, let me help you back, it seems like you broke your foot." he was about to pick her up but she stopped him. "no, I can do this on my own, i've had to do worse." he immediately said, "you shouldn't have to do everything on your own, it's not bad to have help." this time when he tried to pick her up she didn't stop him. he carried her bridal style to her apartment, clearly not caring about the looks he got from everyone else. Amber on the other hand buried her face in her shirt from embarrassment. her face was a deep shade of red and the ends of her tentacles turned a light pink.

when they got to the elevator in the apartment building Amber said, "t-thank you." Dexter said, "no problem. if there is anything spyke has taught me it's to be kind to everyone you find, they will always help in some way in the future, and if not well, it is still the good thing to do." "who is spyke?"  
Dexter looked uncomfortable, "spyke is my...mentor." Amber was about to apologize but then the elevator opened and they stepped into the hallway. Dexter walked into the hallway that had Amber's apartment in it, but when he was about to ask Amber for her key so he could open the door he heard someone say, "ohmygod! they are so cute!" then he heard another voice say, "Quiet! I think he heard you." Dexter turned around but didn't see anyone. "weird, must be hearing things." he thought.

when Amber opened the door he put her on her bed. he went into the bathroom and got some bandages and came back into the room and Amber was sitting up. "hey, are you ok?" she was about to say yea but winced in pain from trying to move her foot. he took off her shoes and socks and started bandaging her left foot. "you still haven't told me what happened." she sighed and said, "after I voted some kids started bullying me so I punched one of them. after that they started beating me up but sheldon stopped them."

"it must hurt badly, where else did they hit you?" Amber pointed at her stomach and said, "he mainly hit my gut, it hurts like hell."

when he finished bandaging her arm he looked through her medicine cabinet and found some painkillers. he gave her the painkillers as well as a glass of kelp juice. he then sat down in a chair next to her bed and she asked, "where did you learn to properly bandage a wound?" "when I was travelling I met a friend of spyke who taught me some basic medical procedures for about 3 months." she was surprised. "so how did you end up travelling with this Spyke person?"

"I don't want to talk about it."he immediately said.  
so she stopped. there was an awkward silence for a while then Dexter said, "what team did you vote for?"

she pulled out the burger shirt and he laughed, "so you agree that burgers are the superior food. that's good. hey, wanna go out for burgers tomorrow?"

she perked up and said, "sure that sounds like fun!" Dexter was excited but then frowned. she asked what's wrong and he said, "I forgot to put ice on the bruise on your stomach." he then got up and grabbed some ice, put it in a bag then came back over to Amber. he then said, "i need to see your stomach so I can put the ice on it." Amber was worried for a moment that he was using her injury to see her less-clothed. but shook that thought out of her mind just by looking at his face, he wasn't kidding and Dexter wasn't a pervert like most boys. so hesitantly she took her shirt off (thankfully wearing a bra.) and he put the ice on her stomach. she was now blushing even harder than she was before. and she could see that Dexter was slightly blushing as well. then he said,

"I better get going, I still gotta get back to my so called lesson." Amber was upset that he was leaving but didn't say anything, the painkillers must have kicked in because she suddenly felt exhausted. "see you tomorrow, Dexter."

"goodbye, Amber" and then he left her apartment.

 _ **holy sh** I just spent 4 and a half hours working on this. I know inklings don't have bones but cmon. it's just for story, and Amber seems to have a "date" tomorrow with Dexter.**_


	8. unexpected date part 1

_**this is going to be a 2 part chapter and you'll see why in a bit. Thank you everyone who even viewed my story. i'm amazed that people have read this, i'm even more amazed that people actually enjoy the story. so THANK YOU ALL SOOO MUCH!**_

Amber woke up feeling dizzy. she tried to sit up and felt a massive pain in her side. she realized she had slept without a shirt. (she never does that!) that's when she remembered what happened the previous day, and how Dexter had helped her after the incident. She wondered why he had helped her, sure she was his friend but, she would have never done that for one of her casual friends back home. "Maybe i'm thinking too much about this. i'll ask him when I meet him next." then she also remembered that she agreed to meet him for lunch at the diner. "AWW INK! I FORGOT ABOUT LUNCH!" she cried.

suddenly she was wide awake. she was about to spring out of bed but stopped just before smashing her foot to the floor. she took a moment to observe the wounds. her foot was still tightly bandaged and didn't hurt that much, and while her chest hurt the ice Dexter put on it helped so it wasn't swollen. that didn't reduce the pain at all though. slowly she got out of bed and changed into new clothes. since she wasn't planning on turf wars any time soon she put on some jeans, and a rainy day tee. then she put on her white arrows and went to brush her teeth but noticed that her phone was vibrating softly on her nightstand. when she picked it up she saw it was a text from Dexter saying, "Hey Amber how are you feeling? I just wanted to clarify some details about our "meeting" at noon. 2 questions, 1-are you sure you can make it? and 2-we never clarified what diner we would meet at." Amber thought about it for a second and wrote, " 1- I can manage. 2- let's meet at 8-bit fish diner."

almost immediately after sending the text she got a reply. "Great! i'll see you there."

she smiled but before she could put the phone back in her pocket it started ringing. it was an unknown number but Amber wasn't worried so she answered it. immediately she regretted it, "Hey Ambypoo! you thought you lost me didn't you? funny, so how's it going with your boyfriend Dexter huh?" Amber snapped back, "He's not my boyfriend Amanda, he's just a good friend." Amber started to get embarrassed, once again blushing bright red. "well we know that will change soon don't we? whether it gets better or worse, it will change soon. very soon. on another note how's your foot feeling? that fight must have left a pretty bad bruise, worth the money though." Amber was confused, "wait, you payed those kids to bully me? wow, low for even you Amanda."

on the other end she heard a smashing noise. "you are getting on my nerves Amber, soon that too will cease too, soon soon soon..." *click* Amanda hung up. Amber immediately called Dexter but he didn't answer. she panicked and called again, this time he answered, "hello?"

"Dexter are you ok?"

"what? y-yea I'm fine why?"

"i'll explain at lunch, stay safe. bye"

"Wait! amber, is this a date?"

"maybe….do you want it to be?"

"I would prefer it that way."

"then yes, this will be a date,see you then Dex."

"see ya!"

Amber sighed with relief and checked the time, 9:30! how is that enough time to prepare! she took off her clothes and took a shower. 10:03 she wasn't making good time. she went and picked out fresher clothes, (she didn't want to look bad. especially not on her first date) she finally decided to wear her school uniform with a skirt and a hair clip. (tentacle clip? i don't know) she then had to move on to makeup. she decided not to put much on, she didn't want to look "fake". by now it was 11:23 she put on long black socks and slid on her school shoes. (black loafers) and was out the door. "whew just enough time to walk to the diner. I hope Dexter likes the new look."

 _ **now you guys can yell at me for having a crappy small chapter, but i'm just gonna say wait till part 2. it's the same thing but from Dexter's perspective the whole time. then part 3 will just be the date itself. and it seems that Amber may have a tiny crush on Dexter. *wink wink***_

new news! the bio has been updated a little. it just shows their hair and eye color.


	9. unexpected date part 2

_**well christmas season starts soon so I think i'll start making this story go into winter, what do you guys think? this next chapter will not have much new. it is just the same thing as last chapter but from Dexter's perspective. hope you all enjoy!**_

After what happened yesterday Dexter was looking forward to talking to Amber again. after his lesson from spyke, (which was 2 hours!) he decided to go to bed early. but he didn't sleep well. he had a pleasant dream about him and Amber on a turf war team winning every match. it was a great dream but it turned to a nightmare in a second. in one of the matches in his dream octolings blew through the wall of the kelp dome and took Amber away, when he finally got to her she had ink dripping from her mouth and she was motionless. he started screaming her name and panicking then he woke up, sweating and gasping for air. he collected himself and tried to go back to sleep, when that didn't work he got up and walked around his apartment. when he rounded the apartment for the 50th time he decided to go outside and take a walk. besides it was only 4:52 who would notice? so he put on some sweatpants and a black anchor tee, slid on his zombie hi horses and left. when he got outside he decided to go sit on a big patch of grass next to the building,then he just leaned back and observed the sky. the stars were shiny dimly over the still black night sky. he also noted the moon since it was half full. it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen, "almost as beautiful as Amber…."

then he started to mentally argue with himself.

"Does she think of me as anything more then her friend?"

"of course not why would she?"

"There is nothing wrong with asking, she hasn't shown any signs of hating me yet."

"she hasn't really shown signs she likes you either."

"why am I arguing with myself? this is dumb."

then he started to doubt himself.

"what if i'm too dumb, what if she's using me? I remember what happened last time I loved someone, they used me until they didn't want me, then they threw me away like trash."

by this point Dexter was starting to shut down. "that won't happen again, it can't."

Dexter stopped staring at the stars and stopped shutting down. then he whispered "of all people….. why her?" Dexter knew what would eventually happen and yet he let himself get attached to Amber. he went back upstairs and went to bed. then he fell asleep.

Dexter arose the next morning uneasy. he needed to know if Amber felt the same way about him as he did her. so he looked at the time, it was 9:00 so he decided to start by texting her, "Hey Amber how are you feeling? I just wanted to clarify some details about our "meeting" at noon. 2 questions, 1-are you sure you can make it? and 2-we never clarified what diner we would meet at." he hit send and immediately had second thoughts. "what if she thinks i'm desperate!?" then he received an answer, " 1- I can manage. 2- let's meet at 8-bit fish diner." he was ecstatic. he immediately said "great i'll see you there!" he started to prepare by first taking a shower, he heard his phone go off while in the shower but didn't reach it before it went to voicemail. it started ringing right away again so this time he got to it in time. "hello?"

"Dexter are you ok?"

"what? y-yea I'm fine why?"

"i'll explain at lunch, stay safe. bye" he took this opportunity and asked, "Wait! amber, is this a date?" she took a while to answer back so he was actually scared to open up the message when he got it, but when he did, "maybe….do you want it to be?" so he slowly wrote, "I would prefer it that way." and crossed his fingers when he hit send. and when he got his answer he was happier than he had ever been in his life. (which was not much.) the text said, "then yes, this will be a date,see you then Dex." he sent his goodbyes and went on getting ready. his huge smile never left his pale white face. (wearing a gasmask blocks sun from his face most of the time and you could tell!) the time was now 9:35 and he had plenty of time to get ready so he took his time. when it came to clothes Dexter is just like a 3-year old in a candy shop. he wants everything but doesn't know exactly what to pick. in the end he decided to wear black jeans (totally classy.) and his school shoes, but for his top, he wore a white shirt (the games one. not just a plain white shirt.)

you may think it was unclassy but it was the fanciest he could afford. not only was he kinda ok at turf wars, but Spyke refused to give him any money, he said that he should learn to support himself. he's gonna hate the day Spyke leaves him but he knows it will happen soon.

getting that thought out of his mind, he went to go to the diner, it was 11:15 after all. "should have some time to talk to Spyke first, he has good advice." he mumbled as he left the beige apartment.

once he got outside again he was immediately happy. it was his favorite season, fall, the temperature outside isn't too hot or too cold so he was fine in just his shirt. while he was walking he noticed the trees, just starting to turn all different fall colours. he also noticed that when the wind blew some of the leaves would fly off and gently land on the black pavement, or the pale white cement sidewalk. when he turned into Spyke's alleyway he felt warm and at home. unlike most inklings who didn't like Spyke or simply were creeped out by his Tall stature.

when Spyke saw Dexter walking towards him he grew a big smile on his face. Dexter ran up and greeted him with a traditional bow. (Spyke had taught him culture.) Spyke gave him a gift and when Dexter saw it he jumped with joy, it was a super sea snail! After thanking Spyke for the wonderful gift he gave him the news, "I'm here because i need some advice. i'm going on a date soon and I need some guidance." (Spyke didn't teach him to be humble, in fact Spyke hated it when he was humble. it's just something Dexter naturally did.) Spyke was surprised and said, "well first tell about this girl."

"oh, she's cute and great at turf wars, and sh-" Dexter was cut off "I mean, what is her personality?" so Dexter answered "she hates people helping her, she has a hot temper, and she is competitive." Spyke thought for a moment and said, "be yourself." Dexter thought it was a joke, but it was not. Spyke was very serious about this. so he just said, "thank you for the advice, I have to go now." so he bowed once again before exiting the alleyway. when he ducked out of the alleyway he looked at his phone and saw that it was 11:25 A.M. so Dexter started picking up the pace to get to the diner on time.

when he got there it was 11:29 he was relieved that amber wasn't there yet.

so he went and sat in a green booth in the corner of the restaurant and started mentally preparing for his first date.

 _ **I'm just gonna start by reminding you this is my first story ever so don't get too upset if the next chapter is bad. I have managed to get help from a really good writer himself so it shouldn't be that bad. things are gonna heat up in the next chapter so be ready. (**_ _or maybe they won't who knows.)_ _ **thank you everyone who has read up to this point. I know it's hard to keep interest but hey, you'll find a way. SEE YA GUYS IN THE NEXT CHAPTA!**_


	10. Devastating date

_**So I guess this is the big one. The date. I'm just going to say there is a spoiler for the next chapter at the end. I pretty much spent the whole weekend working on this chapter. (ask Trick Jebus-aka etriuswimbleton.) this isn't going to be the sappiest thing in this story, it's just the first. thanks for reading.**_

Dexter checked his watch, 12:00 P.M. He was getting nervous, now starting to let his mind wander, he started thinking about the past, then about spyke, then about the trees, then...nothing. when he saw Amber come in through the door he froze.

Dexter swore he had never seen anyone as beautiful as her, not even the squid sisters. (he never really liked them though.) she noticed him and waved, he quickly waved back and she walked over to the booth. his mind raced on what to say but he decided on being himself and saying whatever came to mind. amber started talking first and said, "Hi Dexter, you look nice."

"Hi Amber, I can't describe how beautiful you look." she sat down across from him and they started talking, Amber was clearly blushing from his complement, a deep shade of red, her tentacles even started to turn pink at the ends. Dexter was amazed at how easy this was for him.

it felt good to not shut someone else out of his life and just open up. he started to feel differently about Amber, he couldn't tell what it was right now though. they finally ordered food after 2 hours of just talking. then Dexter had to drop a hard question for Amber, "sooo, if you don't mind me asking, what was your past like? before inkopolis?" he noticed Amber tense up. Amber looked him straight in the eyes and said, "Can I trust you to never EVER tell anyone what i'm going to tell you?"

He nodded.

(i'm not going to write it out, you've seen the bio.) while she was telling her story he finally saw another side of Amber he had never seen before. Weakness, Vulnerability, Fear. He finally knew why she was so independent, she had to be. When she finished she was on the verge of tears. Dexter said nothing, instead he got up, walked over to her and hugged her,and didn't let go for a long time. (which got some weird looks from the other customers, but not an old couple in a booth in the other corner, they smiled and thought of when they were young.) when he finally did Amber wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at the clock, 3:30 P.M. Dexter went and sat back down and said, "before you say anything I want to tell you my past, so you finally know why I acted the way I did when you mentioned my parents." he started to talk about how he was abused, what they would do to him when he was really little. then he talked about when his parents were first arrested. he could see the shock on Amber's face when he talked about how they stabbed him and threw him into a ditch. Dexter started to sweat, he was never so open about this, he even surprised himself when he said, "I just want the nightmares to stop, every night is the same dream, I get attached to someone and they leave me, or worse." when he was finally done talking about them he felt dizzy, he excused himself and went to the bathroom while Amber was still in shock. when he got in the bathroom he noticed his eyes were grey, his hair was a very dark shade of purple. he washed his face and tried to recompose himself, it didn't work. he was so open he accidently told Amber his greatest fear, being alone, abandoned, betrayed. he felt so exposed his body started to show it. (thus the grey eyes and dark hair.) since he couldn't change it he just went back to Amber who was now singing the check. she got up and walked over to him. "let's get out of here." she grabbed his hand and they left the old red diner. Dexter was too out of it to notice where they were going. they didn't talk for a while, then Amber said, "You know I will never leave you." Dexter chose his next words carefully, "I'm sorry if I have invaded your privacy, or done anything you didn't like."

"nobody is perfect."

"I know, but I try to be when i'm with you." Dexter finally noticed where they were. they were at inkopolis park. birds flew by, trees blew gracefully in the wind, shedding their summer leaves to embrace the long, cold winter. he noticed Amber blush at his last comment. What are we doing here? "just…..walking."

"for some reason I don't believe you."

"then don't….just follow along." they were still holding hands from the diner, but what neither of them knew is that someone was watching from under a thick tall oaktree. Dexter was having the time of his life. he finally felt like someone cared about him, that he could be with her. and nothing would ever go wrong. he was incorrect, to say the least. while he and Amber were walking talking about their favorite things to do, Dexter noticed someone in a coat glaring them down. thinking nothing of it he kept talking to Amber, then out of nowhere. Dexter saw pure terror on Amber's face. that's when he felt a familiar burning pain coming from his chest, sure enough when he looked down there was a military knife sticking about 3 inches out of his chest, he fell on his knees and started to let the blackness take his body over.

Dexter woke up in a hospital bed, at first he wasn't scared. he had been to many before and knew he was alive. but he started to panic when he saw Amber sleeping a chair next to his bed, she had a bandaged wound on her shoulder and he could see the blood leaking through. he tried to say something but nothing came out. he tried to move but couldn't do much besides turn his head. he decided to try to wait till Amber woke up. "this can't be real, it can't." he was waiting for a long time before it happened. a girl in a doctor's coat walked into the room and Dexter turned white. it was the girl who stabbed him. "hello Dexter, ready for your surgery?"

 _ **in the next chapter I will explain what happened when Dexter blacked out. and as I promised here's the teaser/spoiler.**_ Dexter screamed in horror when he saw himself in the mirror, "why didn't the doctor's tell me about this!?" he flexed his new appendage and went to get some answers. _**so the doctor didn't tell him or you about the new limb? shame he had to find out that way, well now you guys know that Amanda**_ _ **severed the tendon to one of his limbs, so tell which one you think it is. See ya guys in the next chapta!**_


	11. cuddly catastrophe

_**I just want to say thanks octoinkling for all the reviews. (and everyone else who has been reviewing.) I'm glad yall are interested in this. you guys don't know how much fun I have making this. so it's really awesome that some people have been taking the time to write reviews.**_

The girl in front of him slowly faded away, so did Amber. he then felt like he was flying, like he was free. but then he stopped, it wasn't fun and free. instead it became dark and scary. He saw Amber in the distance, he saw Amanda walking up behind her, she had a knife in her hand. Dexter started running to Amber, and just as he got to her she was stabbed. his legs instantaneously stopped working and Dexter collapsed on the floor. Amanda faded away but Amber was still lying there. blood coming from her mouth, she said, "why didn't you help me? why can't you ever do anything right? I never even cared about you. you are dirt, no, you aren't even dirt, at least dirt knows who to trust." Dexter started to cry. then when Amber faded he started bawling. he was exactly where he feared most. his own mind, alone.

at that point there was a light in the distance, he wanted to get up and run but the darkness was holding him back. eventually he just accepted it and let the darkness consume him.

 _ **Amber's perspective, during the date,**_ Amber watched in horror as Dexter slowly collapsed to the grass, now stained red with his blood. she looked up and saw Amanda pull out a small glass shard and prepare to stab Amber. but by this point Amber had snapped back to reality. she punched Amanda and grabbed for the makeshift weapon. Amanda clearly had hand-to-hand combat training. (her dad was in the squidbeak splatoon.) she punched Amber and gave her a black eye, she then heard police sirens coming closer. so she quickly stabbed at Amber, landing in her left shoulder. she then got up and bolted for the alleyways. Amber was to mad to cry. her tentacles had turned lava coloured. she pulled the shard of glass out of her wound and ran to Dexter. she didn't mind the pain, she stumbled over and saw something in Dexter's pocket. she ignored it for now and went to pick him up. (using a brush had it's perks. those things are not light.) she tried to wake him up, but when the Ambulance got there he was still out. all the colour in his hair was gone, instead it was a dull shade of grey. while the paramedics loaded Dexter into the Ambulance all she could think was, "is it too late?" one of the medics ran up to Amber but all she let them do was bandage her up. they let her go with him on the Ambulance but when they got to the emergency room they didn't let Amber in. just before Dexter was pushed into the surgery room Amber grabbed the object out of his pocket.

It was a picture, more specifically a picture of Dexter when he was still a infant, maybe 5 or 6. They looked like a really happy family, his dad was holding him on his shoulders, his Dad had blue eyes, very tan skin, and had orange tentacles, his mom who in the picture was holding Dexter's hand and laughing had slightly tan skin, purple eyes and purple tentacles. Amber couldn't hold it any longer, she started sobbing. her hair turned back to her normal orange but had faded colour at the ends. She wished it could have been her. not Dexter, not her mother. Before she knew it she was sleeping in the waiting room.

 _ **Dexter's perspective hospital, after surgery:**_ Dexter woke up panting and sweating. he hadn't visited his personal hell in a while. he didn't know where he was and suddenly calmed down when he realised he was in a hospital room. (he had been in lots before, so he knew he wasn't dead.) he started panicking again after he saw Amber, she had bandages around her left shoulder and he could clearly see blood coming from her shoulder. she was sleeping in a chair next to his bed, her head was on his lap. he checked the clock and saw that it was 3:32 A.M. his room was pitch black except a lamp on the desk. he checked himself, saw that he had his arms and legs, but something seemed different. he started sitting up and immediately knew what was wrong. when he sat up he started panting for breath, he felt like someone just punched him in the chest, over and over. when he fell back into the bed Amber woke up. when she saw that Dexter was awake she squealed with excitement. "I'm so happy you are ok! the Doctor's said you might not wake up. I haven't left your side since!" then she did something that made Dexter's heart go crazy. she leaned in and kissed his cheek. after realising what she just did she buried her face in her zekko hoodie. thinking, "I did not just do that!"

Dexter was in shock. not only did he find out that he has been in a coma. but he was just kissed by the girl who he really liked! his face was so red he thought it would never go back to normal. he tried to speak but found it hard to say more than a sentence. so instead he extended his hand, she happily put her hand in his. he realised that she had something in her hand, "what's in your hand?" she immediately felt terrible for stealing his photo. "it fell out of your pocket in the ambulance."

"no it didn't. i've been in ambulances before and it didn't fall out." now he was glaring at her. he didn't look mad, but he wasn't happy. "i'm sorry. I saw it in your pocket and was curious."

Dexter didn't say anything but took the photo back. "i'm not ready to give them up yet…..I can't."

after that they didn't really talk, they fell back asleep hand in hand.

 _ **two weeks later.**_ Dexter was excited. he finally was going to leave the hospital after a month of being there. he wasn't alone though, Amber visited him everyday and Kori visited once with his new girlfriend carla. he personally was scared of her but kori was fine. most of the time. in those 2 weeks Dexter had grown even closer to Amber, A few nights they would snuggle together in Dexter's bed. (After he didn't need any kind of breathing tubes.) the doctor's usually teased Dexter about his relationship with Amber. but that was then. now, he was talking to his Doctor and he mentioned his "disability" but Dexter wasn't too sure what he meant. once they were all done and Dexter was finally able to leave he took 3 steps outside and felt exhausted. the doctor's mentioned getting used to one lung, Amanda had punctured the other and it wouldn't heal. he couldn't afford surgery so he decided on learning to live with one lung. Amber helped him back to his apartment and into bed. from there she sat down next to him and talked to him, "you know this going to be hard. learning how to relive life."

"i can figure it out. somehow." Dexter felt like he needed to do something. "hey Amber?"

"yea?"

"I never said thank you. for everything."

"oh you don't have to, I-" she was cut off by Dexter kissing her on the cheek.

"now we're even." he laughed softly but Amber just sat in silence, blushing like someone just threw red paint in her face. her tentacles turned a light pink. "what's wrong? catfish got your tongue?" he teased. Amber playfully punched him in the arm. since it was 11:03 P.M. Dexter decided just go to bed (he spent the whole day doing paperwork. something a 14 year old shouldn't have to do.), "i'm going to go to bed i'm tired as hell." Amber nodded and gave him a quick kiss on the tip of his nose and left saying, "You owe me!" he smiled and sank into bed. before dozing off he decided to call Amber tomorrow when he woke up.

 _ **ok so first I gotta say "HOLY SHIT MY NECK HURTS!" second, i'm going incognito until the weekend cause I gotta play catchup in my work. (i know people say it's easy but tell marquette to lay the hell off the tests!) and third thanks to everyone who put up with the fluff. I couldn't handle going this long without any, and trust me. there is a lot more to come.**_ _ **and lost lungs lol**_ __


	12. Starry night

_**I'M BACK MWAHAHAHA! I'M DONE WITH SCHOOL TESTING FOR NOW SO EXPECT MORE CHAPTERS THAN USUAL.**_

Dexter awoke to the birds chirping from the electrical pole outside his bedroom window. when he sat up he saw it was 8:05. as soon as he turned his head his nostrils were filled with a beautiful smell, octo pie. he tried to stand up but needed a minute to breathe. (he really needed to get used to the lack of oxygen) Dexter started to doubt that his body would ever adjust, but he trusted the doctors. once he was ready he put on his classic shorts, a black anchor tee.

he walked out of the room to see Amber leaning over an octo pie, she was adding something to the pie. Dexter took the opportunity and snuck up behind her and scared her. she jumped and spun around. she looked alarmed at first but then saw it was dexter and calmed down a bit. "geeze Dexter! you scared the crap outa me!" Dexter, who was chuckling lightly, said, "awww what are you gonna do? stab me?"

she playfully pushed him back but immediately looked like she was in pain, she grabbed at her left shoulder and groaned. Dexter was alarmed and said, "I'm so sorry! are you ok?" she nodded reassuringly and said, "yea, i'm fine don't worry about me. want some octo pie?" Dexter smiled and said, "sure, thank you for making me some." they sat down at the couch and turned on the T.V while eating. they were watching a reality show about an illegal fight club called shark tank. while they were watching the squid sisters came on the T.V. they did their signature pose and then said, "Good Morning inkopolis! we have an update on the Park stabbing 1 month ago. we just received confirmation that the victim Dexter got home safe and sound after being stabbed in the chest by an unknown individual. the police have no new leads at the moment. STAY FRESH INKOPOLIS!"

they struck their pose once again and then the screen went blank before returning to shark tank. Dexter turned off the T.V and said, "Amber, do you know who that girl is?"

"I used to," she went on to explain all she knew of Amanda. when she finished Dexter didn't know how to react, his mind was wandering all over the place so he said, "wanna go do some turf wars to clear up my mind. then we can try and find this psycho bastard" Amber looked uneasy and Dexter noticed it. "what's wrong?" she was tearing up now and said, "Dexter i'm sorry….the doctor's say…..your lung…..you can't play turf wars ever again. if you do it will kill you."

this hit Dexter like a brick hitting a window

. he started feel like ever since Amber came into his life everything that he fixed was breaking. now he couldn't even play turf wars. what inkling are know for!? he was enraged and crushed. "get out! this is your damn fault! if it wasn't for you I would still be able to play turf wars!" Amber looked devastated and ran out of the apartment. when she was gone Dexter broke down. he screamed as loud as he could and started to black out. he stopped himself by sitting down on the floor. he took the photo from his pocket and looked at it. since he didn't know what to do he went to spykes hideout.

 _ **Amber's perspective.**_ Amber couldn't believe what she heard dexter say to her. that it was her fault, she felt so betrayed she ran out of the apartment back to hers. when she got there she started sobbing and mentally breaking down. she started to believe that it was actually her fault for Dexter got injured. at least her wound would heal and she could go back in about 2 months, but Dexter would never be good enough to play. If he got splattered his body wouldn't be able to handle it and he would never respawn. Amber felt so bad that she considered leaving inkopolis.

though she quickly threw that thought out of her head thinking,

"i promised I wouldn't leave him."

Amber didn't know what to do so she ended up reading a cheesy romance book called the fault in our bubbles, about 2 jellyfish in love, one gets beached and it's only a matter of time before she dies. Amber personally has read the book 26 times but it's the only book she really is interested in. after reading for a long time she received a text message on her phone and checked to see who it was. it was Dexter, she was mad, but she was also curious. she opened the message and was surprised to see that it said, "rooftop. 10:30 P.M. there is something I need to say." Amber was excited and scared. she wanted to see what he wanted to say, but what he might say is what was scaring her the most. she didn't want to be alone again. so she got ready and when the time hit, she went to the roof of the apartment building

. when she got there she felt a breeze of chilled air brushing up against her legs. since it was fall it was really dark out by now and so she couldn't see very well. she glanced around the black asphalt but didn't see Dexter. she started to think he was pranking her and so she walked back to the door. but when she got there she heard Dexter call her name. sure enough when she spun around Dexter was sitting by the ledge of the building. Amber ran over to him and sat down next to the purple inkling. they didn't talk for a bit. but suddenly Dexter looked at Amber and said, "I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. I was foolish to blame you for what has happened." Amber cut him off by saying, "I'm sorry for not telling you earlier. maybe I could have stopped this."

"you have done nothing wrong since I've met you. i'm the dumb one here and we both know it. It's not your fault I got stabbed again." Amber could tell Dexter was tearing up. she put her shoulder around him and he hugged her back.

they just sat like that for a long time. "I'm ok with not doing turf wars….as long as you are here." he blurted out. even in the dark Amber felt like Dexter could see her blushing.

"have you ever looked up at the stars at night?" Amber asked, instead of answering Dexter leaned back at layed on the asphalt. Amber giggled at his amazed look and layed down next to him. for at least an hour they pointed out stars and different formations. "this is how I forget about my home, my family." she noticed Dexter shuffling uncomfortably. "I…...I forgive you."

Dexter hadn't said anything in awhile so she assumed that he was out of breath. Amber didn't notice Dexter stand up but she did notice when he pulled her to her feet and said, "let's go back." she nodded and they started walking back to Amber's apartment. once they got back Amber walked in the doorway expecting Dexter to come in with her but he stayed in the hallway. "I need to go home and sort something out. goodnight Amber."

Amber was sad that he was leaving just like that. but she wasn't upset for long. before she closed the door Dexter leaned in and kissed her on her lips. it was only for about 3 seconds and as soon as he made contact with her lips she let out a yelp of surprise and her tentacles immediately turned a deep shade of pink. when he pulled away she was still frozen from shock and so he just whispered, "you owe me." and left. After he left Amber regained a little bit of consciousness and closed the door. all she could think about as she put on her pajamas, brushed her teeth, and sunk into bed was.

"what just happened?"

 _ **well now I think that was an appropriate way to come back to my story. just so you guys know i'm gonna start working on different one-shots soon. PM me any suggestions and i'll try my best to make them a reality. see you guys very soon!**_


	13. Cold goodbyes

_**I WANT TO START THIS OFF BY SAYING I AM TERRIBLY SORRY FOR THE MASSIVE DELAY ON THIS. I'VE BEEN WORKING ON MY NEW COMPUTER AND DEALING WITH OTHER THINGS IN LIFE.**_ (and tell tricky jebus his puns SUCK!) im sorry this is a small chapter but its important.

(2 weeks since the last chapter.) in the gap between the last 2 weeks Dexter has been adjusting to his new lifestyle and was now ready to find his answers he was looking for previously.

Dexter awoke to his phone going off. he sat up, groggily wiped his eyes of the remaining sleep and picked up the phone. "h-hello?"

"Dexter….I have to leave." Dexter immediately shot out of bed, "WHAT!? WHY?"

"I can't explain….but please meet me at the edge of town on manatee street."

"I'LL BE THERE IN 5 MINUTES!" with that he clicked off his phone and threw on some thick jeans, and a zekko hoodie. (it's 2 days before squidmas in the story, thus it is winter.) then he jumped into his zombie hi-horses. and bolted out the door. but what he had forgotten was that Amber was sleeping on his couch and woke up to him yelling at the phone. she was worried and quickly followed him.

when Dexter reached the elevator he pushed the button and collapsed. he hadn't run since he lost his lung and now he felt as if he was having all oxygen crushed from his small frame. he slowly recovered and started speed walking to his destination. once he got close enough he saw spyke.

Spyke was completely packed up and ready to leave town. when he noticed Dexter he held out his hand. when Dexter looked to see what it was he saw a beautiful golden ring. "take this, you will know what to do with it when the time comes, though that won't be for a while." now Dexter couldn't hold it in and started crying.

"please don't leave me. I can't be alone!" Spyke put the ring in Dex's pocket and noticed that Amber was watching them from a distance but ignored her. "don't be afraid, you are not alone." Dexter was starting to slightly calm down. "but why do you have to leave?" he then sighed and said, "i will not tell you for you will not understand, but I will tell you this. I will not see you for a long time. but I will see you again." Dexter then hugged Spyke and just stayed like that for about 20 mins. then Spyke started walking away but not before giving Dexter another gift, Amber can't see what it is but sees Dexter look surprised like he had just seen a ghost. then Spyke whispered one more thing in Dexter's ear and walks away, Dexter was dang, near sobbing and when Spyke was out of sight he just stood there.

Amber decided to go over to Dexter and just hugged him from behind. he was startled but didn't move. after a while he said, "please don't leave me." Amber just snuggled him and said,

"I will never leave you."

 _ **ok so if Dexter wasn't already mentally wrecked now he has fallen almost completely off the deep end. once again I am so sorry that I was lacking content and so tomorrow i'm working on the next chapter for guardian angels.**_

 _ **ALMOST 2,000 VIEWS ON THIS STORY!? THAT'S CRAZY THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!**_


	14. Sunset

Dexter walked home with Amber at his side, she didn't know what spyke gave him and he intended to keep it that way. when they got in the elevator Amber pushed the button for the 7th floor and the doors shut. they were standing in silence until Amber finally said, "did spyke have a reason for leaving?" Dexter didn't say anything instead he just nodded. when the elevator doors opened Amber stepped out and Dexter followed suit. when they arrived at his apartment he unlocked the door, stepped in, and asked Amber blatantly, "do you want to go on a date?" Amber felt a small blush creeped on her face. "where will we go?"

"I heard port mackerel is a good place." Amber giggled at his obliviousness that he believed a shipping dock is a good dating spot. "ok. i'll meet you there at sunset." after she said that she left in a hurry.

Dexter was preparing for the date not as nervous as last time. he put on a mountain vest because it's still freezing outside, and a thick pair of jeans. (he loved jeans.) before sliding his shoes on his phone went off. Dexter stood up and went to his phone, he didn't recognise the number but still answered. "hello?" after hearing the voice on the other end he sighed. it was Amber, "Hi Dexter sorry I forgot to tell you I got a new phone and this is the number."

"that's ok. thanks for letting me know."

"no problem, oh hey….meet me at th-"

"No…..meet me on top of the blue replica gear crate. i'm sorry to interupt but please."

"Sure, no problem, see you then."

"bye." Dexter hung up smiling that so far his plan was going perfect.

He slipped on his red work boots and glanced back at the white envelope sitting on his nightstand. it was the money spyke gave him, 240,000 coins. enough to pay for his surgery. Dexter didn't know what to do, he wanted to get a new lung and not have to live turfless...but it was also enough money to buy Amber a necklace he saw her staring at when they went shopping. Dexter grabbed the money and went out the door.

Amber was finally ready to get over her fear of being rejected. she got ready and left for the date. (she was wearing very little makeup, a striped beanie, and a black anchor tee, and threw on a forge inkling parka.) on her way out she saw someone running down the hall without shoes on. she laughed at his forgetfulness. Amber was amazed at the sky, it was almost squidmas but Amber didn't care. her mother never had the money to get her gifts. Amber noticed she could see her own breath, she also noticed that she was running late to the date so she hurried along. When she got to the port she looked for the crate. it didn't take her long to see it was the one directly in the middle of the shipping yard stacked on top of 5 other crates. it took Amber a good 10 minutes to climb because it was about 30-40 feet in the air, but when she did she didn't care.

Dexter heard Amber climbing for about 3 minutes but ignored it. he was too busy preparing a way to tell her something big. once she was almost at the top he helped her up and they sat on the ledge. the view was breathtaking, the slow covered the port like a thin white blanket and the sun was still bright but not dim enough that you could look at it. by now it was barely visible behind the skyscrapers in the distance, but that's not what caught Dexter's eye. "you know, this necklace is almost as beautiful as you are." Dexter handed Amber the silver necklace that was shaped as an angel, in the angel's hand was a diamond. Amber's face lit up like the sun when she saw the gift. she was so happy she kissed Dexter quickly on the lips. Amber was too excited to blush now, instead she put it on and asked Dexter how he could afford it. "I used the money spyke gave me. it was supposed to be for another lung but," Amber cut him off, "WHAT!" Amber was at a loss of words, she didn't think he would ever deny a chance to get his old life back. Dexter looked uncomfortable and she noticed his face turn bright red, "you are more important than a stupid organ." Amber felt really guilty, "but….I can't get you anything back."

"you don't have to Amber." Amber looked at Dexter and he stared her straight in the eyes looking very serious.

"I Love You. you are the most important thing in the world to me. without you there wouldn't be a world worth living."

Time seemed to stop. they both gazed into each other's eyes slowly leaning closer to each other. After a while They kissed, not like before, this time it was electric. Dexter noticed that her tentacles slowly wrapped themselves around him. one on the back of his head bringing him closer the other on his back. they finally stopped when both of them started to feel dizzy.

when they pulled away all Amber said was, "I love you too." and they snuggled together and watched the sun set. but what they didn't realise was that someone else was climbing up the crates.

 _ **i'm going to say right now this story will be ending shortly. there will only be 2-3 more chapters then an epilogue. but I may make a sequel (if there is one to be made from this series. I want to thank you guys for sticking with me through my first story, I know it's not as good as the other splatoon romance stories but i'm trying my best. I wouldn't be here without you. and trust me, this won't be the last.**_


	15. final fight

_**sit back and relax (cause I sure as f*** can't.) i've noticed it bugs the hell out of me when i'm not writing. maybe that's a good thing? I don't know.**_

Dexter was having a mixed day. it started off the worst way possible, then somehow turned into the best day of his life until now. Dexter was snuggling with Amber his girlfriend when he heard someone say, "Awwww, such a happy couple." Dexter jumped up and spun around to see Amanda staring at them. she was different this time, something about her stood out. Her eyes were colourless and her hair was pink as always. but the way she stood, Dexter realized she was in a combat stance with a big knife in her hand. "why are you doing this!? why us!?" Dexter screamed. "you'll both find out soon enough, but right now it all comes down to this." Amber had stood up by now and looked terrified. Dexter however was extremely pissed, "you don't have to do this Amanda," Amanda immediately cut him off, "YES I DO! THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO MAKE THE VOICES STOP!" although Dexter was mad, he also felt kinda bad for Amanda, she is clearly crazy but that's no excuse for this.

Amanda started laughing hysterically then jumped at Amber, Amber couldn't move in time and was knocked to the ground. Amanda then stomped on her still healing foot and Amber cried out in pain. Dexter punched Amanda in the side to which Amanda attempted to stab him but missed. while her and Dexter were fighting Amber stood up and pushed Amanda towards the edge. Amanda counter acted by slashing at Dexter grazing his chest leaving blood leaking out of his shirt, he stumbled backwards and Amanda kicked him off the edge. thankfully he grabbed the edge with one hand but didn't have the energy to pull himself up. Amber grabbed for Amanda's knife and they fought for a while before Amanda kicked amber to the floor. she then got on top of Amber and stabbed her arm leaving the knife there, just before she could punch Amber in the face Dexter ran up and tacked Amanda off the edge of the crate sending them both hurling towards the ground. Amber stood up and ran to look over the edge but couldn't see clearly so she rushed down the crate. when she got there she found Dexter sprawled out on the floor clutching his ribcage. "did we win?" he asked lightly. before she could answer he passed out and Amber started sobbing. she wrapped the necklace he gave her around him.

she then looked around for Amanda, but when she found her she wished she hadn't. Amanda was lying on her back with a huge icicle sticking through her back, "so….this is what it comes to? after all this, just me, and you again." Amanda said. Amber walked over and took the gold locket from her pocket. "we always were competing for everything….I never thought survival would be one of them." Amber said.

"people change Amby-poo *coughing* for better….or worse."

Amber opened the locket and it revealed 2 photos. one of her, and one of Amanda.

"why did you do this, Amanda?"

"I told you already...the voices wouldn't stop….but now, they have ceased."

Amanda took out a replica of the very locket Amber was holding...but this one she handed to Amber "take it….not like i'm going to need it where i'm going."  
Amber noticed Amanda was in a great deal of pain. she pulled the knife out of her arm wincing at the pain. "I never wanted this to happen….we used to be close….sister" then she slowly slid the knife into Amanda's throat, ending her pain.

Amber couldn't cry anymore, she had to face the reality. she picked up her sister's locket and put it with hers, then she hurled them into the water, watching the sink slowly. "no more hiding" she said.

Amber went back over to Dexter and sat down next to him just soaking in what had happened. eventually she heard sirens but she didn't care. the truth was going to come out….soon.

after many examinations and treatments Amber was finally let in to see Dexter. it had been 2 days since the incident and the police finally stopped interrogating her. she opened the door and saw Dexter talking to a nurse, when he saw her he stopped talking and just stared at her. the nurse quietly walked out of the room leaving them alone. "it's good to see you." Amber started

"here, you forgot this." Dexter handed her back the necklace which she put on right away.  
"you need to know the truth. Amanda...was my sister. my hometown was attacked by octolings 2 days after she ran away. I had heard her say she was going to run away to octo valley but I thought she was just venting. then, when it happened I felt so guilty that I hadn't warned anybody."

Dexter looked surprised but understanding in a way. "I don't care anymore." Amber looked up at him surprised, "all I care about is that you are safe."

Amber ran over to him and jumped on his chest and Kissed him. just like last time it was electric but unlike last time, they were free. free to do whatever they wanted and not feel like they were being watched or used. they finally had their lives to themselves, but one thing remained.

A week has passed since the incident and they finally were out of the hospital, again.

when they got home they talked about their relationship and decided to move in together since they were always at each other's houses anyways. while they were moving Amber's boxes Dexter said, "let's go up to the roof...i've got to do something." she agreed and they went to the roof. just like last time the sun had set and the sky was a fading orange-red. Dexter sighed and pulled out the photo of his parents. it was the only real memory he had of them. next he pulled out a match but Amber stopped him, "are you sure you want to do this?" Dexter paused and they stood there for a while before he said, "the past is in the past…broken memories that I don't want anymore." then he lit the photo on fire and dropped it off the roof. watching it burn and float away in the wind. when it was completely out of site Dexter turned to Amber and said,

"i'm ready to make new memories...with you."

 _ **THE END**_

 _ **I want to thank each and every one of you who read through my story. I will be posting an epilogue soon so look out for that. I am so glad people like tricky jebus and octo inkling kept my story and my spirits high with your amazing feedback.**_

 _ **I will see you guys soon. trust me when I say i'm brainstorming ideas for new stories daily, and if you have a suggestion hey! I'd love to hear it. for now though and for this story…..goodbye.**_


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